In portable sound reinforcement systems used in auditoriums and the like, where a sound mixing console may be placed 50 to 200 feet in front of the stage for sound balancing, an electrical cable is used to interconnect the mixing console with the stage located equipment. The usual connecting cable comprises a number of individual conductor wires bound together in a large, stiff bundle having a generally circular cross-section, the various wires being connected to multiple connection connectors at each end of the cable. This type of circular cross-section cable assembly is commonly called a "snake" because it is difficult to deploy and even more difficult to stuff into a carrying case. It presents a tripping hazard, is heavy, bulky, and is not only awkward to handle, but requires a large trunk for transporting and storage.
Many of these problems would be avoided by the use of a thin, flat cable, such as those which have been developed for use in the telephone industry, in substitution for the "hose-like" cable presently used. This substitution has not yet occurred because suitable related cable handling and deploying means have not existed. An object of this invention is to provide such suitable handling and deploying means.